Editor’s notebook: Changes to the Press-Banner

You may have noticed that the newspaper you are holding has the words “Postal Customer” on the upper right-hand corner of the back cover.
Yes, I am sure you just peeked. I would have, too.
Those of you who are especially observant will notice that this is different than last week’s edition — and every edition for the past several years. Previously, every paper we delivered to your home or business had your address printed on it.
Last week, we found out about a postal regulation that changed our paper from a periodical to standard mail.
As you have certainly heard, the United States Postal Service is in serious financial trouble. There is talk of eliminating Saturday delivery and there is talk of raising rates. In our case, it meant that we no longer qualify as a periodical. I’ll spare you the gory details, but our mailing costs are nearly tripling.
For mailing the paper to you for free to remain a viable option, we’ve had to eliminate addresses from the list, instead opting for “Postal Customer” and delivering to every mailbox on your postal carrier’s route. For many of you, nothing will change.
However, some of you have pulled yourself off our list by calling our office. Now, we will not longer have that option.
If you don’t want the paper delivered:
1) Call your local post office and exclude yourself from their list. With the new “Postal Customer” format, the post office can make the choice not to deliver the paper.
2) Please be patient. If the paper comes and you don’t want it, please put it in the recycle bin. We are accessible at the Press-Banner, but there is nothing that the staff in our office can do to actually stop it from coming to your mailbox.
If you have stopped getting the paper:
1) You can call our office. We may have the option of adding “subscribers” to a separate list. We will know in the next several weeks if this is financially possible.
2) Pick one up around town. We drop off to a number of locations, including grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants. We will soon publish a list of locations online at www.pressbanner.com.
As the adage goes, sometimes reality bites. In this case, the rising cost of mailing has caused us to have less control of our own product. We explored all solutions, and will continue to adjust this one until we have the best (and least expensive) solution.
Thank you for reading. You all make up a great community to live and work in.